INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF MUSEUMS (ICOM)

Memorandum of Understanding between the World Customs Organisation (WCO) and the International Council of Museums on Combatting the Illicit Traffic in Cultural Property

On Tuesday 25th January 2000, in Brussels, the Secretary General of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the World Customs Organisation (WCO) to co-operate over the fight against the illicit traffic in cultural property.

This agreement marks and important step forwards in the fight against trafficking in cultural property.

Customs, within the requirements of their national administrations, have an important contribution to make in the fight against the illicit traffic in cultural property. Only greater co-operation between the cultural heritage protection authorities and Customs authorities at the international, regional and national level will increase the effectiveness of Customs controls. Such co-operation will be of benefit to all parties interested in combating the illicit traffic in cultural property.

1. The WCO Secretariat and the ICOM Secretariat will send each other any general information of common interest.
2. The two Secretariats will invite each other, as observers, to meetings they organise which are of common interest for combatting the illicit traffic in cultural property.
3. ...the two Secretariats will jointly draft and implement, each in its own field of competence, measures to improve co-operation and information exchange between customs authorities and ICOM member authorities, with a view to making the fraud analyses and profiles prepared for Customs services more effective.
4. The ICOM Secretariat will provide the WCO Secretariat with information to help Customs services better understand the importance of issues related to the illicit traffic in cultural property.
5. The WCO Secretariat will provide the ICOM Secretariat with information to give heritage protection authorities and proffessionals a better understanding of Customs authorities' tasks and problems.
6. The two Secretariats, in conjunction with UNESCO, will jointly devise publications to raise the awareness of, and inform, the services responsible for combatting the illicit traffic in cultural property.
7. ICOM will collaborate in the training activities concerning cultural property that the WCO Secretariat will organise for Customs enforcement officers and will work in close collaboration with the WCO Secretariat to enable museum proffessionals to pass on their knowledge and experience to the Customs services responsible for combatting this type of trafficking.
8. The two Secretariats will exchange training activity programmes on the illicit traffic in cultural property...The Secretariats will do their utmost to ensure that trainers from one Secretariat (or its representative) participate in the training activities of the other.

Memorandum of Understanding between the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) and the International Council of Museums (ICOM) on Countering the Theft of and Trafficking in Cultural Property

Considering Interpol's aims are to ensure and promote the widest possible mutual assistance between all criminal police authorities within the limits of the laws existing in the different countries and in the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to establish and develop all institutions likely to contribute effectively to the prevention and suppression of ordinary law crimes.

Interpol's role is a fundamental one in combatting the theft of, and illicit trafficking in cultural property. ICOM also has a vital role to play. Strengthening co-operation at international level between bodies responsible for protecting and conserving the cultural heritage, on the one hand, and police authorities on the other will increase the effectiveness of the fight against the illicit trafficking in this heritage.

Article One:

Article Two:

1. ...ICOM and Interpol shall ensure full and prompt exchange of information and documents concerning matters of common interest.
2. The two parties shall communicate to each other any information they may have concerning modus operandi used in the illicit traffic of cultural property and statistics they may have on this form of crime.
3. Interpol shall consider authorising ICOM to consult its information on stolen works of art.
4. ICOM shall communicate to Interpol information it has on cases of theft of and illicit traffic in cultural property.
5. ICOM shall authorise Interpol to reproduce and circulate, for crime prevention purposes, the information it recieves from ICOM.

Article Three:

Article Four:

1. Each party shall, at the request of the other party, review projects to be implemented at national, regional and international level, in order to provide comments and suggestions which are appropriate to their area of concern.
2. ...the Parties shall work together to set up and implement programmes, projects and activities, in particular those linked to combatting the theft of, and traffic in, cultural property.
3. ...share experience and expertise.